Maria Grazia Chiuri pleased to see people wearing copies of her feminist T-shirts

Maria Grazia Chiuri was “happy” to see people wearing copies of her feminist T-shirts after her debut show for Dior.Back in 2016, the Italian designer was tapped as the first female creative director for the French fashion house, and when she released …

Maria Grazia Chiuri was “happy” to see people wearing copies of her feminist T-shirts after her debut show for Dior.

Back in 2016, the Italian designer was tapped as the first female creative director for the French fashion house, and when she released her spring/summer 2016 collection, quickly garnered attention for her line of white tops bearing the title of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay We Should All Be Feminists.

While the T-shirts are priced at $860 (£580), and are therefore out of many customers’ budgets, Chiuri has now shared that she is fine with seeing people sporting knock-offs as it means that a luxury brand is sending a “good message”.

“Of course, we have to acknowledge we are a luxury brand and that not all people can buy our products,” she commented in an interview by author and feminist leader Robin Morgan for U.S. Harper’s Bazaar. “But I was so happy after my first show when I did the We Should All Be Feminists T-shirt and I saw fake T-shirts all around the world!”

While most fashion designers would be displeased to see consumers wearing copies or buying knock-offs, Chiuri is particularly fine with it because it means people are investigating the inspiration behind the design and are sharing the message with others.

“If someone sees your book titles on a T-shirt and then Googles and finds the books, that’s the goal for me,” the 55-year-old smiled. “And, really, I can thank Dior for supporting me in this. Everyone seemed worried, ‘Uh-oh, you are political.’ But the company never stopped me. Everything is political anyway! Everything you buy, everything you eat. Life is political!”

Chiuri is to receive the Sisterhood Is Powerful Award for Wearable Media at the annual Women’s Media Awards event in New York City in October.